Arctic Sea Ice Reaches New High?

The Arctic is set to surpass the highest sea ice area for April 2nd, which was set in 2003. On April 2, 2003 Arctic sea ice was 14.336 million sq km. Today, April 1, 2010, the Arctic sea ice area is at the 14.395 million sq km mark. So unless this number falls by 60,000 sq. km overnight, then sea ice will reach a new high for this date.

Keep in mind that parts of the Arctic were much warmer than normal during the winter. This leads me to believe that a rapid melting during the summer will take place and that this year’s low will be comparable to last summer’s. The ice in some places simply cannot be that thick, and will melt away in the blink of an eye. So there you have it: the first prediction (WAG) for Arctic sea ice melt for September 2010 – roughly 5.2 million sq km.